Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61L—METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR STERILISING MATERIALS OR OBJECTS IN GENERAL; DISINFECTION, STERILISATION OR DEODORISATION OF AIR; CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES; MATERIALS FOR BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES
  • A61L2/00—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor
  • A61L2/0005—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor for pharmaceuticals, biologicals or living parts
  • A61L2/0082—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor for pharmaceuticals, biologicals or living parts using chemical substances
  • A61L2/0088—Liquid substances
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K39/00—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies
  • A61K39/395—Antibodies; Immunoglobulins; Immune serum, e.g. antilymphocytic serum
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61L—METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR STERILISING MATERIALS OR OBJECTS IN GENERAL; DISINFECTION, STERILISATION OR DEODORISATION OF AIR; CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES; MATERIALS FOR BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS OR SURGICAL ARTICLES
  • A61L2/00—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor
  • A61L2/0005—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor for pharmaceuticals, biologicals or living parts
  • A61L2/0011—Methods or apparatus for disinfecting or sterilising materials or objects other than foodstuffs or contact lenses; Accessories therefor for pharmaceuticals, biologicals or living parts using physical methods
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07K—PEPTIDES
  • C07K16/00—Immunoglobulins [IGs], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies
  • C07K16/06—Immunoglobulins [IGs], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies from serum
  • C07K16/065—Purification, fragmentation
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
  • A61K38/00—Medicinal preparations containing peptides

Definitions

• the invention concerns the method of producing a virus-safe, storage-stable, and intravenously tolerable immunoglobulin-G preparation recited in the claims.
• Immunoglobulin preparations obtained by fractionation from human plasma have been used for more than 30 years for the treatment of inherited and acquired immune-deficiency conditions. Those obtained by fractionation with cold ethyl alcohol (Cohn fractionation), however, can be administered only intramuscularly because intravenous administration leads to extremely severe side reactions. Since intravenously administered immunoglobulin preparations are very effective, methods of producing intravenously compatible preparations from alcohol-fractionated immunoglobulin have already been described.
• the immunoglobulin molecule is either enzymatically split, with plasmin for example, or chemically modified, with ⁇ -propiolactone for example, or an attempt is made either to prevent the formation of anticomplementary aggregates by means of specific precipitation, absorption, and chromatographic techniques and by adding stabilizers or to remove the aggregates and produce a non-modified immunoglobulin G.
• Neither enzymatically split nor chemically modified immunoglobulins G can carry out all the functions of the natural immunoglobulin, however, because the aforesaid methods change the properties of the protein--decreasing half-time and effectiveness or decelerating the initiation of action.
• Baumstark et al (Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 108, 514-22 [1984]) describe a method of isolating immunoglobulin G from human plasma that employs ion exchangers, especially anion exchangers such as DEAE Sephadex, for discontinuous separation.
• Suomela et al. (in Curling, Separation of Plasma Proteins, Pharmacia Fine Chemicals, 1983, pp. 127-30) describe a method that among other stages employs gel filtration, chromatography over an anion exchanger, and chromatography over a cation exchanger to isolate immunoglobulin G from plasma.
• Suomela attempted to remove the plasminogen from an immunoglobulin-G preparation obtained through ion-exchanger chromatography over lysine - agarose. He reports, however, that the method was unable to remove all the proteolytic enzymes. Suzuki and Takahashi (Methods in Enzymology 34, 432-35 [1974]) describe obtaining pure prekallikrein from a pseudoglobulin fraction through adsorption on arginine - agarose.
• Treating an immunoglobulin fraction with specific adsorbents will not eliminate all the proteinase activity because the fractions may contain, depending on the starting material, various amounts of such enzymes as prekallikrein, kallikrein, plasminogen, plasmin, thrombin, or factor XI.
• pathogenic virsus can generally be transmitted with blood, human plasma, or plasma fractions.
• viruses include in particular hepatitis viruses B and non-A/non-B and AIDS viruses, which can lead to life-threatening diseases.
• Immunoglobulin preparations produced by chromatographic methods are not stable in the liquid state and entail the risk of transmitting viruses. It is impossible to heat-sterilize these preparations because the heat would lead to the formation of aggregates and increase anticomplementary activity. Treatment with such detergents as sorbimacrogololeate involves the very troublesome step of removing the detergents from the preparation. Although reaction with ⁇ -propiolactone does, as demonstrated by Stephan and Dichtelmuller (Arzneim.-Forsch./Drug Res. 33 [II], 9, 1230-31 [1983]), lead to a virus-safe preparation subject to the known conditions, it will also chemically modity the protein.
• the object of the invention is to provide an industrial-scale and economical method of producing an unmodified, intact, high-purity, virus-safe, and storage-stable immunoglobulin-G preparation, which will be free of anticomplementary activity and hence intravenously tolerable, by means of the enrichment and multistage purification of a plasma that has had the coagulation factors removed from it or of a plasma fraction or serum fraction that contains immunoglobulin G accompanied by treatment with ion exchangers and by ultrafiltration.
• the precipitant is eliminated, by means of diafiltration or gel filtration, either from the plasma that has had the coagulation factors removed from it or from the plasma fraction that contains the immunoglobulin G, and the desired ion composition is established,
• the accordingly stabilized immunoglobulin-G solution is treated, at a protein concentration of 20 to 60 g/l and a pH 6.0 to 8.0, with 0.03 to 0.07% of ⁇ -propiolactone, diluted to a protein concentration of 5 to 20 g/l, and subjected to ultraviolet radiation.
• the method in accordance with the invention can be carried out with either human or animal starting materials.
• a serum a ⁇ -globulin (Cohn's paste II or II/III) that has been isolated by Cohn fractionation and occurs in large quantities during the industrial-scale production of human albumin, or even a raw ⁇ -globulin fraction that has been isolated by salt precipitation (with ammonium sulfate for example), can be employed.
• the starting materials can be harvested from either normal donor pools or from specially selected donors with high antibody titers against viral and bacterial antigens.
• a preferred starting material for the method in accordance with the invention is either a plasma that has had the coagulation factors removed from it or a Cohn's paste II or II/III.
• coagulation factors are themselves highly valuable therapeutically. Furthermore, they interfere with further plasma fractionation. Separating them from the plasma is accordingly known.
• a cryoprecipitate obtained from a thawing process is employed as a starting material for the production of factor-VIII concentrates, and factors II, VII, IX, and X (PPSB complex) are isolated by adsorption onto an anion exchanger, purified, and also employed therapeutically.
• the preferred starting material is accordingly obtained for the method in accordance with the invention by preparing plasma by plasmapheresis in accordance with standard blood-collection practice, thawing it out at +4° C., and centrifuging the cryoprecipitate out.
• the coagulation factors are removed from the PPSB complex by adsorption onto an anion exchanger, a cross-linked dextran substituted with diethylamino groups for example.
• the resulting plasma can preferably be treated with ethyl alcohol to precipitate the remaining fibrinogen.
• this step is not absolutely necessary, it does avoid contamination of the column materials during the subsequent chromatographic steps.
• the conditions for this step specifically an ethyl-alcohol concentration of 8 to 11% of pH of 4.5 to 6.5, are selected to prevent formation of aggregates in the immunoglobulin fraction.
• a plasma treated in this way will have the following composition:
• This coagulation-factor free plasma, or even the enriched immunoglobulin factor, due to the preliminary treatment, will contain considerable amount of (ethyl) alcohol or other precipitants. Furthermore, its ionic environment will be dictated either by the natural composition or plasma or by the preliminary treatment.
• Appropriate materials for gel filtration are those with an exclusion range of 2 to 10 kD, those based for example on cross-linked dextran, copolymers of N-acryloyl-2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propandiol, or cellulose, such as Sephadex G-25, Trisacryl GF 05, or Cellufine GH 25.
• the gel Before receiving the protein solution, the gel is equilibrated in a chromatography column with the desired buffer system. Buffer systems with a molarity of 0.01 to 0.5 and a pH of 4.5 to 8.5, depending on whether the further processing will be carried out on anion or cation exchangers, are appropriate.
• the resulting protein solution will be free of alcohol and interfering salts and will be composed of
• This protein solution is fractionated over ion exchangers to separate the immunoglobulin G from the other proteins.
• cation exchangers e.g. agarose substituted with sulfopropyl or carboxymethyl groups or copolymers of N-acryloyl-2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propandiol, such as S-Sepharose, SP-Trisacryl, or CM-Sepharose
• the conditions are selected (buffer 0.01-0.05 molar and pH 4.5-6.5) to ensure that the the immunoglobulin-G fraction will attach to the exchanger matrix, whereas all the other plasma proteins will pass through it unimpeded along with the mobile phase.
• the attached immunoglobulin G is then eluted with a buffer with a high salt concentration--0.5 to 1.5 molar.
• the yield of immunoglobulin G from this procedure is approximately 60%, and the immunoglobulin-G fraction will contain small amounts of immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin M.
• the plasma is accordingly preferably fractionated over anion exchangers (e.g. agarose substituted with diethylaminoethyl groups, copolymers of N-acryloyl-2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propandiol, cellulose, or silicic acid, or a polymer of monomers containing methacrylamide and N-methylenebismethacrylamide substituted with quaternary aminoethyl groups, such as DEAE-Sepharose, DEAE-Trisacryl, DEAE-cellulose, DEAE-Spherosil, QMA-Accel, or QAM-Eupergit) to harvest the immunoglobulin-G fraction.
• anion exchangers e.g. agarose substituted with diethylaminoethyl groups, copolymers of N-acryloyl-2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propandiol, cellulose, or silicic acid, or a polymer of monomers containing methacryl
• the buffer environment is in this case selected (0.01-0.05 molar, pH 6.5-8.5) to ensure that all the plasma proteins will attach to the anion-exchanger matrix, whereas the immunoglobulin-G fraction can be obtained as a pure fraction, without interacting with the gel bed.
• immunoglobulin-G fraction consisting of up to 100% ⁇ globulin (electrophoresis on cellulose-acetate film) with no contamination in the form of immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin M, or other plasma proteins.
• This high-purity and dilute immunoglobulin-G fraction is diafiltered to remove buffer substances as against physiologically compatible salt solutions and concentrated by ultrafiltration to establish the desired protein concentration.
• Appropriate for this purpose are flat or hollow-fiber ultrafiltration membranes with an exclusion range of 10 to 100 kD.
• the immunoglobulin-G solution which has been concentrated in this way or in other known ways--by precipitation, freeze drying, or spray drying followed by solubilization or by adsorption over cation exchangers followed by elution--to a protein content of approximately 50 to 110 g/l, is, however, still not storage-stable because decomposition products will still appear after a while. It has been demonstrated, using the enzyme substrate S 22 88 (Kabi), that the immunoglobulin-G fraction still contains considerable proteolytic activity--up to 10 000 U/l. It has been possible, with such specific enzyme substrates as plasmin, plasminogen, thrombin, and prekallikrein substrates, to demonstrate traces of these enzymes.
• proteolytic enzymes are accordingly separated in accordance with the invention by affinity chromatography over a sorbent in association with a dye, chromium blue (Ciba) for example, coupled to agarose, cellulose, or a copolymer of N-acryloyl-2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1-1,3-propandiol, such as Sepharose, cellulose, or Trisacryl, or inhibited by adding antithrombin III.
• a dye chromium blue (Ciba) for example, coupled to agarose, cellulose, or a copolymer of N-acryloyl-2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1-1,3-propandiol, such as Sepharose, cellulose, or Trisacryl
• the immunoglobulin-G fraction might still be contaminated with such pathogenic viruses as hepatitis B, hepatitis non-A/non-B, hepatitis A, or HTLV-III/LAV.
• Sterilization is accordingly carried out in accordance with the invention in order to obtain a virsus-safe immunoglobulin-G preparation.
• EPA 0 102 731 describes using ion exchangers to reduce HBsAg, tests still indicate that this decrease is not enough to obtain a really virus-safe product.
• the method in accordance with the invention accordingly includes additional sterilization, employing a combination of ⁇ -propiolactone and ultraviolet radiation.
• the purified immunoglobulin-G fraction is treated at a protein concentration of 20 to 60 g/l with 0.03 to 0.07 and preferably with 0.05% ⁇ -propiolactone at a pH of 6.0 to 8.0 and preferably 7.2. Subsequent to a reaction time of 3 to 24 hours the immunoglobulin soltuion is diluted to a protein content of 5 to 20 g/l and subjected to ultraviolet radiation in a rotary flowthrough apparatus. The accordingly sterilized solution is then adjusted by known procedures to 4 to 12% protein. As will be evident from Table IV, the method in accordance with the invention adequately inactivates the model viruses.
• the virus inactivation of at least 7.5 log 10 represents adequate viral safety in relation to hepatitis viruses B and non-A/non-B and AIDS viruses.
• the method in accordance with the invention employs a definitely lower ⁇ -propiolactone concentration, in combination with ultraviolet radiation, than does the known method and gives surprising results in effective virus inactivation without demonstrably altering the immunoglobulins or having a detrimental effect on their activity.
• Table V illustrates the situation.
• the immunoglobulin-G preparation produced in accordance with the invention is surprisingly outstanding for its combination of the following properties:
• the yield is up to 90% immunoglobulin G.
• the immunoglobulin solution is sterilized, virus-free, natural, and unmodified.
• a pool of fresh-frozen human plasma was thawed at +4° C. and the residual precipitate (cryoprecipitate) centrifuged out.
• the clear residue was treated with swollen and equilibrated ion exchanger (DEAE Sephadex) to separate it from the factors of the PPSB complex and stirred for 1 hour at room temperature.
• the gel was removed over a filter and the residue treated with 9% ethyl alcohol by volume at a pH of 5.3.
• the batch was allowed to stand for 3 hours at -3° C. and the precipitate, mainly fibrinogen, centrifuged out. The batch was then filtered sterile.
• the immunoglobulin G was separated from the accordingly re-buffered plasma by means of anion-exchanger chromatography, using a 10-l column packed with DEAE-Trisacryl LS and equilibrated with 0.022 M TRIS+HC1 at a pH of 7.5.
• the re-buffed plasma was fractionated over the anion exchanger in 12-l portions, attaching all the plasma proteins except immunoglobulin G to the exchanger. It took 6 cycles to process all the plasma.
• Each attached plama protein was eluted with 0.22 M of TRIS+HC1 and 0.6 M of NaCl a pH of 7.5 and collected for other uses.
• the combination immunoglobulin G fractions which had a protein content of 1.5 g/l and a volume of 120 l, were concentrated to a protein content of g/l by means of an ultrafiltration system (exclusion limit of 10 kD.
• an ultrafiltration system exclusion limit of 10 kD.
• the solution was adjusted to a physiological environment with solid sodium chloride and treated with 1.5 U/ml of antithrombin III to inhibit any proteolytic enzymes.
• the immunoglobulin G solution from state D was treated at a pH of 7.2 with ⁇ -propiolactone (0.5 ml per l of solution), with the pH being maintained constant over the reaction time of 12 hours.
• the solution was then diluted with physiological sodium chloride solution to a protein content of 10 g/l and subjected to ultraviolet radiation in a rotary apparatus with a flow rate of 20 l/h and an intensity of 1 mW/cm 2x min.
• the accordingly sterilized immunoglobulin-G solution was then gel filtered for 4 cycles in a column packed with 22 l of Sephadex G-25 and equilibrated with a semiphysiological sodium chloride solution to remove the TRIS+HC1 buffer.
• the solution was concentrated in an ultrafiltration apparatus (exclusion limit of 10 kD) to a protein content of 50 g/l, 0.150 moles of glycine were added, and the batch was filtered sterile.
• the resulting immunoglobulin-G solution had the following properties:
• the immunoglobulin-G fraction with a protein content of 1.5 g/l was adjusted to a physiological saline concentration with solid sodium chloride.
• a chromatography column was packed with 3 l of Ciba chromium blue coupled with Trisacryl LS and equilibrated with 0.022 M of TRIS+HC1 and 0.15 M of sodium chloride at a pH of 7.5.
• 20 l of the purified, isotonic, and dilute immunoglobulin-G solution were pumped over the gel bed at a flow rate of 6 l/h.
• the immunoglobulin-G solution, now free of proteolytic enzymes, was concentrated to 40 g/l in an ultrafiltration apparatus.
• the resulting immunoglobulin-G solution had the following properties.
• Example 1 The procedure described with reference to step A in Example 1 was repeated, but without the treatment with ethyl alcohol, with another pool of 50 l of human plasma.
• the resulting immunoglobulin-G solution had the following properties:
• step B The resulting solution was gel filtered as described in Example 1, step B to remove the alcohol and adjust the ionic environment to 0.022 M of TRIS+HC1 at a pH of 7.5.
• step B which had a protein content of 15 g/l, was then processed as described with reference to steps C through F in Examples 1 and 2.
• the resulting immunoglobulin-G solution had the following properties:
• the resulting immunoglobulin-G solution had the following properties:
• the resulting immunoglobulin-G solution had the following properties:
• the resulting immunoglobulin-G solution had the following properties:
• step B The solution obtained in step A was gel filtered over Sephadex G25 that had been equilibrated with 0.025 M of sodium acetate at a pH of 5.8 to remove the alcohol and establish the ionic environment.
• a chromatography column packed with 1 l of SP-Trisacryl LS was equilibrated with a 0.025 M sodium acetate buffer at a pH of 5.8, and the re-buffered plasma obtained in step B was chromatographed for 5 cycles of 19 l each.
• the immunoglobulin-G fraction that attached to the cation exchanger was eluted with 0.025 M of sodium acetate and with 0.6 M of sodium chloride at a pH of 7.5.
• the collected immunoglobulin-G fractions were concentrated to a protein content of 40 g/l in an ultrafiltration apparatus (exclusion limit of 10 kD) and diafiltered through diatomaceous earth against isotonic saline solution.
• Example 2 The resulting solution was either treated with antithrombin III as described in Example 1 or subjected to affinity chromatography over Ciba chromium blue coupled to Trisacryl LS as described in Example 2. Further processing was identical to steps E and F of Example 1.
• the resulting immunoglobulin-G solution had the following properties:

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• 1986
  • 1986-11-27 DE DE19863640513 patent/DE3640513A1/de active Granted
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